MSI made a reasonable case for AMD-based gaming when it unveiled the GX60 laptop back in September... just not for Americans looking to buy one right away. There's a better argument now that the 15.6-inch portable is shipping to the US this week. The $1,300 asking price isn't quite impulse level, but it's a relative steal for a system whose quad-core, 2.3GHz A10-4600M processor and Radeon HD 7970M should handle modern games without much fuss. The 8GB of RAM, 750GB hard drive, Blu-ray drive, SteelSeries keyboard and Killer networking don't hurt, either. As long as the GX60's 7.7-pound weight isn't too imposing, it might be the ticket to wielding a brag-worthy PC at the next LAN party without having to follow the Intel-owning pack.

"MSI spared no bells and whistles in creating the GX60, packing it with cutting-edge components including the latest AMD processor," said Andy Tung, vice president of sales for MSI US. "MSI is committed to the gaming community and we believe that exceptional performance leads to unparalleled gaming experience."

Available this week, the GX60 also comes with Blu-ray Disc reader, a 1920x1080 anti-reflection screen that reduces eyestrain while widening the field of view, 9 cell battery for extended mobile gaming pleasure, gold coated audio jacks (Audio Boost) for crystal clear and high fidelity sound, and more.